Target Market

Chosen Market 

The target market i have decided to enter is  crime scene and documentary photography, the work i want to create will be about crime but as at the moment i am unsure if i can go into forensic photography due to my science knowledge. So if i create work that is about crime in a documentary style i could look at an opportunity at going into photojournalism. The only reserve i have entering the photojournalism market is i don't want to shoot celebrities i want to create work about real people and real lives. I know in the past i have stuck with what i know which is landscape photography but i need to push myself i can't keep creating the same type of landscape photography base work it is not who i am i just produce this work because  i can create it but it is not what i want to do as a career. I have always wanted to be a forensic photographer so i should and try and pursue it, the science knowledge could hold me back but hopefully i could get past this by retaking my science a levels or studying criminology after university i need to see what qualifications a forensic photographer needs. But i count do this i could look into journalism i need to explore graduate opportunities for both areas i want work in.

Competitions i want to enter 

Entering competitions gives the opportunity to see if my work could be good enough to be in newspapers or work as a forensic photographer. I could gain feedback if i pace high enough but if i don't i want receive feedback usually. Competitions can help develop my skills as valuable  feedback and looking at the previous winners of the competitions could give me an idea of what the judges expect. As far as i know there is not any forensic photography competition due to the nature of the subject matter. Therefore i will enter documentary competitions instead.

I want enter two competition 

• The IAFOR Documentary Photography Award
• Hit The Streets Photocrowd

Previous Winners 

(Furman, A 2016)

Ukrainian freelance photojournalist Alexey Furman won last years The IAFOR Documentary Photography Award with is work for the theme 'Life After Injury' won the prize last year. The project focuses on the difficult physical and psychosocial rehabilitation of young Ukrainian soldiers wounded during the ongoing conflict with Russia-backed rebels and the Russian army in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine – a conflict which since May 2014 has taken over 9,000 lives and injured more than 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers. His work looks at the struggles facing soldiers who have lost limbs after their time in the Army. His work is theme completely, the pain and the sadness on the face of the soldier shows how his life is going to be now. The happiness in the doctors face seems forced as he is obviously trying to seem positive about the future this soldier faces. 

The theme this is a broader theme it is Story , Narrative , History the requirements are 15- 20 images showing one or more of these themes. i think looking at last years winner the theme should be taken quite literal as the winner's image is very much life after injury.This something i need to keep in mind when creating my work. 

Hit the Street is a new competition, it is a very open street photography competition anything to do with street photography is allowed. One image is required to show your  interpretation of Street photography  As it a new competition there is no previous winners but looking at other street  base competition but the image below is from a similar competition last year . a lot of them are black and white which i could look at doing my work but to stand out i could create work with a muted colour tone.

(Phillips, T 2016)

Competitors 

If i want a job in either forensic photography or photojournalism there will be some competition for me. The main competitor for me if i go into forensic photography will be The Police, a friend  of the family who is in The Police and who is crime scene  investigation department originally started of a police officer and The Police paid for him to complete a diploma in forensic and criminology. This is the main problem because is when a business like The Police is looking to recruit they look internally first before they post the jobe out externally. At the moment i am external candidate for a forensic photographer so i would feature very highly on The Police's radar. But i could look into joining the police to see if this is option to get past this as then after 1 or  2 years i could get to do forensics and criminology course paid for by The Police. Going into photojournalism there is more competitors to consider, there is not only photography graduates who can apply for photojournalism jobs. Journalism and photojournalism can apply for that job too. These graduates are not national competitors they could be also competitors from international markets too. Looking at these competitors i think getting experience at a newspaper as an intern and working my up is probably the best bet. But this could be still difficult due to the amount of graduates going for this job.